Cuttin' Heads

[Intro: Choir, Chuck D]

Hey Poppi, yay ho

Hey Poppi, yay ho

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Lay low, proud Poppi (Come on)

Lay low, proud Poppi

Shout it out

[Verse 1: John Mellencamp, Choir, Chuck D]

He's from the deep south (Shout it out)

Pass Christian Mississippi

Where the cane breaks are burnin' every night

Lay low, proud Poppi (Shout it out)

Shout it out

[Chorus: Choir, Chuck D]

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Oh Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Hey Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh (Alright)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

[Verse 2: John Mellencamp, Choir, Chuck D, John Mellencamp & Choir]

Poppi had a wife (Huh)

And she was black and Poppi was white (Shout it out)

Everything was rollin' great (Shout it out)

'Til some man called her race a disgrace

Oh no

[Chorus: Choir, John Mellencamp & Choir, Chuck D]

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Oh Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Oh Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Oh Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Oh Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh (Huh)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

[Verse 2: John Mellencamp, Choir & Chuck D]

Well, Poppi went down to the river (Hey)

To defend the honor of his wife (Somebody's killin' somebody)

Gonna drown the man in the water (No, no, no) (Shout it out)

And the water was shiny like a new knife

[Verse 3: John Mellencamp & Choir, John Mellencamp, Chuck D]

But Poppi stopped at the banks of the Delta

He said it sure ain't worth this man's life (Come on)

Someday the wind of change is gonna blow on through

And put all of these jokers right

Come on and sing now

[Chorus: Choir, John Mellencamp & Choir]

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Oh Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Oh Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

[Instrumental Break]

[Chorus: Choir]

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Oh Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Oh Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

[Verse 4: Chuck D]

Papa got a brand new bag, dag

Delta blues got 'em dazed and confused

Came a long way crazy

Seems the abuse is racism's baby

And it's wild

'Cause I connect the word with pain

Now some smile when they scream the name?

Funny how times have changed

And the rhymes have changed

But some of these cat's frame remains the same

Agitating adjective, what gives?

Die, n-word, die

But I wanna live

Knowin' all this where the word came from

I must be three times stupid and stuck on dumb

If I use it and confuse it with a term of love

Now, popular culture can't stop 'til it gets enough

Underlined in marketing campaigns

I feel undermined

Heard the n-word promotes that bottom line

Down by the river there's a great divide

Let's ride

[Bridge: Choir & Chuck D]

Don't call me nigga 'cause you know I don't like it like that

Don't call me nigga 'cause you know I don't like it like that

Don't call me nigga 'cause you know I don't like it like that

That's right

Don't call me nigga 'cause you know I don't (No, no, no)

Like it like that

[Pre-Chorus: John Mellencamp & Choir, John Mellencamp, Choir, Chuck D]

Shout it out (Shout it out)

Yeah, shout it out

Oh, shout it out

Tell the world

Shout it out (No, no, no, no)

I said

[Chorus: Choir, Chuck D & John Mellencamp]

Hey-oh, hey-oh (Down by the river there's a great divide)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Heard the n-word promotes that bottom line)

Hey-oh, hey-oh (I feel undermined)

Oh Poppi (Underlined in marketing campaigns)

Hey-oh, hey-oh (Tell the world)

Oh Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Tell the world)

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Oh Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh (That it ain't right)

Oh Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Oh Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh

Oh Poppi (Don't send us back)

Hey-oh, hey-oh (Oh Poppi)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Don't send us)

Hey-oh, hey-oh (Back now, Poppi)

Oh Poppi

Hey-oh, hey-oh (Delta blues got 'em dazed and confused)

Oh Poppi (Tell the world)

Hey-oh, hey-oh (Papa got a brand new bag)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Came a long way crazy)

Hey-oh (Seems the abuse is racism's baby)

[Outro: Chuck D]

And it's wild

Die, n-word, die

But I wanna live

Let's ride